


Sweet Serendipity

by Paranoidhes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bottom Harry, Cemetery, Emotional Roller Coaster, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Murder Mystery, Protective Louis, Sad Harry, Top Louis, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-07 15:11:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11626173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paranoidhes/pseuds/Paranoidhes
Summary: Harry sat down on the bench and patted the seat next to him for Louis to sit. He was surprised Harry let him stay there and keep him company while he spoke with his dead mother. Once Louis sat down was when Harry began his introduction. “Mom, this is Louis, the um, the one I told you about. The guy with the flowers.”or au where louis works at a cemetery and is mesmerized by the curly-haired boy that visits the same grave every day.





	1. Chapter 1

It’s been about a year since Louis Tomlinson first started working at East Hillside Cemetery, immediately after college. Time made it easier to get used to the things that most find uncomfortable about cemeteries. The cold, odd feeling of being surrounded by dead people, people who used to have families, careers, hobbies, emotions; just an empty corpse. Now, you’d assume the place smelled of rotting corpses, right? Would resemble the sadness all its visitors felt? Well, that’s where Louis comes in. 

In the place of brown, dying grass, there is a lush, vibrant green. And where there’s the looming feeling of depression, ones mourning over the loss of their loved ones, brilliant flowers grow and add a brightness. Louis always wanted to make sure that every single person who came to visit would never have to look at a gloomy landscape, because their loved one deserved to be somewhere enchanting, to lay in peace surrounded by beauty. Not only did the visitors appreciate all of Louis’ hard work, his proud co-workers did, too. 

Along with that, Louis also has gotten used to the people that come daily, the people that come on Sunday's, and even those that like to come in on certain days of the years, like holidays. Louis noticed specific things about people that made them stand out, such as the old man that brings his dog to his wife's grave, but since dogs aren't allowed in the cemetery, the man carries the dog in a baby stroller and pretends it's a baby. Louis is the only one who notices this and lets him slide every Sunday morning when he arrives. 

Another person Louis has noticed one boy with curly brown hair that came every day right before closing time, usually while Louis was about ready to head back to the main building to gather his stuff to go home. 

The boy was always alone with a rose in his hand. He'd trudge over, looking down at his feet as he approached a grave in the back part of Block 12, which was the block closest to the main building. He'd place the rose down, sit on the nearby bench, and just talk. Louis never knew what he would say since it felt as though it would be disrespectful to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help but feel curious as to what the boy could be saying. 

Nonetheless, Louis would watch him for a few seconds from afar as he finished up cutting the hedges and such, and make his way back to the main building before gathering his belongings to leave. Of course, he’d say his goodbye’s to his closest co-worker, Martha on the way out.

“Did you remember to water the flowers in Block 6? They were looking a bit droopy this morning,” Martha said from behind the front desk.

“No, I’ve just been working here for a year and completely forgot how to do my job,” Louis said sarcastically. Louis and Martha’s relationship was a weird one, to say the least. They bickered back and forth like brother and sister, even though Martha had to be about 25 years older than Louis. Martha just learned to tolerate Louis’ jokes and sarcasm and even picked up some of it on her own in the last year. Louis could honestly say that he loved working with her, regardless of all the squabbling they do. 

“Well pardon me, smartass,” she snapped back, locking up the filing cabinet for the day. “Do you mind locking up today?”

“Oh, would you look at the time,” Louis said, looking at his wrist as if there were even a watch there. “It’s time to go walk my fish!” 

“I could get you fired, Louis!” she shouted as Louis walked to the door.

“Yeah, but you won’t,” Louis replied from outside the door.

As he made his way home, Louis thought of all the tasks he had to do once he was home; laundry, probably cook dinner, shower, breathe…

He had shared an apartment with his college roommate, Niall. They roomed together their freshmen year of college and stayed together ever since. The two just worked well together and never had any issues. They had clicked from the start. 

Since they had graduated college, Louis was still trying to figure out what to do with his Developmental Psychology degree and same with Niall with his Business Degree. While they figured that out, they were finding temporary jobs to work at. Louis found East Hillside, and Niall just got hired at the local movie theater after being fired from his last job at an ice cream shop for flirting with too many of the customers by giving out "free samples" that were the size of an actual ice cream cone. 

He arrived home to the usual setting; Niall sat on the couch, TV blasting, beer in hand. 

"Got any plans for dinner?" Louis asked as he joined Niall on the couch. Niall shook his head and kept his focus on his phone, scrolling through twitter. "Wanna go to Chipotle or something? I really don’t feel like cooking anything." Niall shrugged and muttered a 'sure'. Louis got up and went to grab his stuff. “Let me just put my laundry in the wash real quick,” Louis added.

"Wait," Niall interrupted, "your mom called again." Louis groaned. "Lou, you have to talk to her at some point. Just call her back, yeah? She's just trying to help you out."

"Not talking about her right now," Louis replied, throwing his clothes into the washing machine. 

“Lou,” Niall whined.

“I said I’m not talking about her right now,” Louis snapped as he poured detergent in the machine. 

“Fine, fine,” Niall said, defeated. 

Louis' mom and him had a weird relationship. He loves his mom to pieces, but she's been up his ass since he's been out of college because he hasn't found a job that has to do with his major. The job he has now pays fine, $15 an hour, so he's not too worried and he doesn't see the big deal. Louis doesn't have a problem with working in a cemetery anyway. His mom doesn't see that though, so he just started ignoring her calls or forces Niall to pick up. 

He'll pick up one day, just not yet. 

***

“So I said to her, ‘do you want the popcorn or not?’ And she just gave me a look like I had two fucking heads, or I was speaking some other language,” Niall was telling some story about a customer at work but Louis kept his focus on his food, pushing the rice around with his fork. “Hey, you alright?” Niall asked. “You’ve seemed a bit down since you got back from work.”

“Nah, nothing. Same old same old,” Louis said.

“What’s new with that funeral director, what’s her name, Jessica!”

“Her name is Jennifer, first of all. Second of all, she got fired last week,” Louis informed and the look on Niall’s face was priceless. He looked like he was just told his dog died.

“But she was so hot!”

“Looks don’t cover the fact that she encouraged people to send flowers to a Jewish funeral, Niall,” Louis said, spooning a bite of food into his mouth.

“Well, what’s so bad about sending flowers to a Jewish funeral?”

“It’s just not a part of the Jewish mourning tradition, and everyone who works at East Hillside should know that. The family was not happy about it and I wouldn’t be either.”

“Guess that’s understandable,” Niall said, “but she was fired before I could get her number, which is unfortunate.”

“Oh, cry me a fucking river,” Louis joked, taking his last bite of food. Niall just stuck his middle finger up at his best friend, causing them both to laugh.

Louis was glad he had a friend like Niall all through college, since his high school years weren't his best. He focused on the wrong things and school and having a friend like Niall in college set his mind straight and helped him put his priorities in order. Less focusing on relationships and more on studying for big tests. Here and there, when there's down time, that's when the partying and relationships can come along, but Louis never really got around to the whole relationship stuff in college. He really wanted to do well to make sure he was getting the education he (or his mother) paid for. 

Too bad he has no idea what to do with all the knowledge he'd gathered. 

***

Once the two were back from Chipotle, Louis wanted to finish his laundry, shower, and go to bed, but once he came out of the laundry room, Niall was begging him to play video games with him.

“Come on! Just until your clothes are done,” he begged, and Louis just couldn’t say no.

“Turn the system on, I’m just gonna run to the bathroom,” Louis said and made his way to the bathroom. When Louis got to the bathroom, he did his business and all. When he went to wash his hands in the sink, he noticed there were little hairs scattered all over the sink. This boy has gotta be fucking kidding.

“NIALL JAMES HORAN!” Louis shouted from the bathroom.

“What? What did I do?”

“Clean this shit or you’re moving out,” Louis demanded.

“Oh, uh, yes sir?” Niall looked confused, but did as Louis told him.

Louis left Niall to do his cleaning while he went back to the living room and grabbed a controller from the table. He put in Call of Duty: Black Ops and sat back down on the couch. 

When Niall finally returned, he grabbed a controller as well and joined Louis on the couch. 

“I’m definitely gonna get a higher kill streak than you. You picked the wrong game, buddy,” Niall threatened.

“Only in your wildest dreams, blondie,” Louis snapped back as the game began. 

“Hey, you’re making me sound like a girl with that ‘blondie’ shit. Never call me that when we’re in public,” Niall said as he focused on the game.

“Thank you for that wonderful idea. I’ll keep that in mind the next time you meet a hot girl somewhere,” Louis said and Niall just had to reach over and hit Louis in the shoulder, causing him to get killed by zombie.

“You little shit!”

“You just had to hit me, didn’t you, blondie,” Louis said and started laughing hysterically.

Playing video games with Niall brought Louis back to freshman year of college when Louis found a common interest with his new roommate, which was video games. Louis brought up his Xbox from home and hooked it up to the TV Niall brought. The two would bond over games like Call of Duty, Fifa, Grand Theft Auto, and more. When they should have been studying, the two were attached to their controllers, and their grades reflected that.

Once Louis had beaten Niall twice more, his laundry was done and he left Niall to play by himself. Louis didn’t even feel like folding his laundry tonight. He still had to shower, so he’d just fold his laundry when he got back from work tomorrow. 

Louis took a quick shower because he felt exhausted and just wanted to crawl into bed. From inside his room, he could hear Niall shouting at the television. Louis fell asleep to the sound of gun shots and curse words.

***

The next day at work went by slow as ever. Louis took his time today, knowing he didn't have much to do, but he didn't want to get assigned other tasks. He took his sweet time watering the flowers with just enough water to wet each petal. He took his time cutting each hedge so that every single one was evenly trimmed. He took his time mowing each lawn block so that the grass wasn't too short. That way, by the time it was just about closing, he was heading over to Block 12 to water the flowers. Just as he arrived, a familiar head of curls was making his way over to the same grave as he does every day, rose in hand. 

Today, the boy sat next to the grave on the grass that Louis still hadn't cut perfectly. The boy deserved to sit on perfect grass. Why couldn't Louis have cut the grass before he came? 

The boy was wearing a soft lavender sweater with dark jeans. He had a white headscarf wrapped around his head to keep his curls out of his face. He looked so small sat down in front of the grave, legs curled under him as he spoke. Louis couldn't hear the words fall from his lips, but he still watched as his lips moved. He watched as he wiped his eye with his sweater, only for it to turn a darker purple, indicating that the boy had started crying. Louis wanted to hug him and tell him that whoever he's talking to is proud of him for being so brave and for coming here daily. 

Louis wanted so much for that boy, and he doesn't even know him. He doesn't even know his name, or the name on the grave that he's talking to. For all Louis knows, it could be an ex-girlfriend that's sitting in heaven mocking Louis for drooling over him. But Louis was curious as to who this boy talks to every day. He doesn't know why he hasn't gone to find out who the person was, and he decides that today will be the day that he does so. 

Once the boy stands and wipes his eyes again, he blows a kiss to the stone and walks away. As soon as he's out of site, Louis places the forgotten watering can down, along with his other equipment, and walks over to the grave that the boy was talking to moments ago. 

The stone was laid on top of the ground, not like a stereotypical gravestone. There was a block of concrete that outlined the bronzed stone, leaving enough space to leave a rock-covered boarder along the edges. The stone was a tan color, almost marble looking, and a few roses rest on top of it, some dying, along with one that was placed there minutes ago by the sad boy with curly hair.

 

The grave had text that was carved;

HERE LIES  
ANNE COX-STYLES  
OCTOBER 21, 1967-MARCH 31, 2014  
BELOVED MOTHER, SISTER, WIFE AND FRIEND  
ALWAYS LOVED, NEVER FORGOTTEN

Anne Cox-Styles, Louis remembered as he made his way back to the main building once he grabbed his equipment. 

He greeted the Martha and put his stuff away. He sashayed his way to Martha so that he stood in front of her with a large smile. 

"And why are you smiling so bright this evening?" Martha asked sarcastically.

"Oh, nothing," Louis began, "but did I tell you how lovely you look today, Martha?" Louis was using his charm as best as he could, but Martha wasn't buying it. “The way your cheeks glow and your eyes are shining, truly the greatest masterpiece ever created.”

She sighed. "What do you need, Louis?" 

"Nothing at all, just to um," he let out a small, nervous laugh, "find out who a certain person is on file?" He walked over next to Martha so he had better access to the computer in front of Martha. 

"Louis, you know we can't-"

"I know, I know, but I just need to find out how someone is related to someone who was buried here, that's all," he batted his eyelashes at Martha and gave a big smile again. “Just a simple click of a few-" He reached his hand out to try to get to the mouse but Martha stopped him. 

"Louis, we can't provide that information," she replied, swatting Louis’ hand away and logging off the computer completely. 

“But Maaaarthaaaa,” Louis whined like a child and Martha rolled her eyes at him. “It’s for science!”

“For some reason, I think you’re lying to me right now,” she said.

“I swear, it’s for the science that is my brain,” Louis said, trying to make it sound more fascinating than it actually is.

“Yeah, no, sorry Louis.”

Louis began looking around the room for a back-up plan and then he spotted it. There was a file cabinet behind Martha that probably holds a file on Anne Cox-Styles that Louis can get a hold of tonight and slip back in tomorrow. Louis just sighed in return. "Fine, I understand," he said, but in reality, he had a new plan. "Need me to close up?" He made sure there was a hint of disappointment in his voice in order to convince Martha that he was genuinely upset over the fact that he wasn't getting what he wanted. 

"That would be great, Louis, thank you," she said as she set the keys down on the counter. "Make sure to lock the gates as well," she added. 

"Will do," Louis called to her as she grabbed her bag from the back room. 

As soon as she shut the door behind her, Louis grabbed the keys and opened up the file cabinet labeled 'A-C', hoping they were sorted by last name. 

He scanned over each of the names until he finally found the file labeled 'COX-STYLES, ANNE'. He made sure no one was in the room, took the file, locked the cabinet, and began to close up. He had to look through this file to find out who this boy was. The curiosity was taking over him and he just needed to know. 

As Louis drove home, he kept glancing at the file sitting in the passenger seat, making sure it was still there. Louis knew that what he was doing breaks so many rules with East Hillside, but he acted on impulse and now there's a file sitting in his passenger seat to a woman who may or may not be the cute boy he's been observing's girlfriend. Regardless, at least once he figured this out, his curiosity could be put to rest, no pun intended. 

Louis had hoped Niall wouldn't be home when he got there so he could look at this file alone without interruption, but no. Niall was on the couch, watching TV, when he opened the door. 

Louis quickly hid the file behind his back. "Hey, Ni. I'm just gonna, uh, go to my room-"

"Wait, no! Come watch the game with me!" He pleaded, and Louis just tried to make his way to his room without making it obvious that there was something behind his back. He failed. "What's that?" 

"What's what?"

"Behind your back?"

"Nothing?"

"Louis-"

"What?"

"What's behind your back?" 

Louis groaned and took the file from behind his back. "The file for the grave stone that this cute boy goes to," he answered. 

Niall's eyes widened as he got up from the couch. "You stole a file? Isn't that...illegal or something?"

"Probably," Louis answered, starting to regret his decision even more. 

"Well, come on. Let's see!" Louis rolled his eyes and made his way to the couch. Niall followed and muted the TV. 

Louis opened up the file slowly and read through it quickly as Niall observed. His eyes scanned the pages until the page where there was a list of the family members. 

MARY SMITH-SELLEY - MOTHER (deceased)  
BRIAN SELLEY - FATHER (deceased)  
DESMOND STYLES - EX HUSBAND  
ROBIN STYLES - HUSBAND  
MIKE SELLEY - BROTHER  
GEMMA STYLES - DAUGHTER  
HARRY STYLES - SON

The names had pictures next to them so the front gate could recognize the visitors who came by. Louis' heart broke immediately when he came across a familiar head of curls. 

In the picture, the boy had a smile and dimples. His eyes shined bright regardless of the picture being black and white, and his smile was radiant, only causing Louis to smile fondly back at him, as if he could see it. Louis wished he could see him smile like that in person, but whenever Louis had seen him, he was getting ready to talk to this woman, which meant he was everything but happy. That's when everything clicked.

The boy's name was Harry Styles, and the person who had passed was his mother. 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is something I've been wanting to create for ages and with the help of a very special person, it became one big story and I really hope you all like it. Hang on tight though, this is going to be a bumpy one.
> 
> If you have any questions or suggestions, my twitter is @Iittlecurls !!


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, once Niall headed off to work around 7, Louis was trying to concentrate on the show that was playing on the TV in front of him, but the smile in his mind wouldn't leave him alone. The fact that whatever killed Harry Styles' mother, sickness, car accident, whatever it was, Louis wanted to destroy it because it destroyed the smile on that boy's face. Harry deserves to smile and everyone deserves to see it. 

Louis blinked at himself in shock. What is he thinking? He's never even had a conversation with this boy and here his is wanting to destroy whatever killed his mother. 

Louis glanced at his phone and saw it was almost one in the morning. He had better get to bed because he had to get up around 8 the next morning. 

Just as he was turning the television off, Niall walks back in from work, laughing loudly, and he isn't alone. 

Behind him was a tall, lean man with dark hair and dark eyes. His skin was tanned and his stance screamed masculine, someone Louis would never want to mess with. He had a large smile plastered on his face as he devoted his attention to whatever he or Niall just said that made Niall laugh. His face screams someone who is truly pleased with themselves. 

"Louis! This is Zayn, someone I work with. I offered for him to come by and have a couple of drinks. Wanna join?" Niall beamed at him, even at this late hour. 

"I was just gonna go to bed-"

"Ah, come on! Please? Just a couple of beers," he begged. Zayn stayed quiet behind him, smile slowly fading.

"Niall, I gotta get up at 8 tomorrow," Louis argued and Niall just gave him his best puppy dog face, causing Louis to sigh and eventually cave. "Fine, but I'm going to bed before 2."

"2:30!" Niall said. 

"Fine."

Niall walked to the fridge and grabbed three cold beers. Louis decided this was the time to introduce himself. "So you're Zayn, I'm Louis," he said, sticking his hand out for Zayn to shake. 

Zayn shook his hand, small smile forming back on his face. "It's a pleasure, Louis. Great place you got here," he said and Louis just smiled back and shrugged.

"Could be better, but it could be worse," he said. “When that shit head isn’t trashing the place, it could be quite nice.”

“I heard that you fucker!” Niall said from the kitchen.

“Facts only, asshole!” Louis shouted back. 

When Niall returned, the three sat down on the couch and began a normal conversation about work. Suddenly, Louis realized the file for Anne Cox-Styles was still sitting on the table in front of them. Louis quickly got up and moved it to the kitchen. 

"What was that about?" Zayn asked once he returned. 

"Oh nothi-"

"It's just this file about a person Louis wants to know more about at work," Niall spilled. Louis hit him in the shoulder. "What?" 

"You want to find out more about a dead person?" Zayn asked, awkward laugh slipping from his lips.

"No, well, not exactly. Just someone who comes to visit said dead person," Louis said, trailing off a bit at the end of the sentence while looking down at his beer in his hands. "It's not as weird as you think." He was already getting defensive over his little crime and he didn’t even give Zayn a chance to react.

"Is this person someone you're interested in?"

"It's just a cute boy, okay? Nothing more," Louis said, wanting this subject to be over and done with. 

"Well, have you talked to him?" Zayn asked. 

"No, he's too pussy!" Niall added and Louis hit him again. 

"Niall, shut the fuck up!" Louis was feeling his cheeks get hot and he didn't want to talk about this anymore. 

"Just talk to him. Offer him some water or something," Niall suggested. 

"Or just pretend you're watering the flowers near him and, I don’t know, spill water on him or something," Zayn suggested. 

“’Oh, I’m so sorry! Let me go fetch you another shirt. Here, take yours off while I go make the exchange!’” Niall used a higher pitched voice in order to mock what could happen in that situation and Zayn was laughing his ass off while Louis didn’t even crack a smile.

“Yeah let me just pull a dry t-shirt out of my ass,” Louis said. “You both are terrible at this. And I'm not talking to him while he's sitting in front of his mother's grave. Sorry," Louis put his beer down. "I'm going to bed. Make sure you clean this up, Niall. It was nice meeting you, Zayn."

Louis made a beeline for his bedroom. He just got super exhausted and wanted to lay down. The day had been way too long and it felt like a roller coaster. He had some time to himself while Niall was at work, but he felt desperate for more.

"Yeah, you too, Louis," Zayn said as Louis shut his door behind him. 

There was no way he was talking to this Harry boy. Where he worked was just too, how does he put it, depressing, to hit on someone. For all he knew, this boy could be way too young and Louis is wasting all this time and thought on someone he could never have. At least until he’s old enough.

All in all, he needed to forget about this Harry Styles. There was no way he would ever build the guts to even talk to him, let alone get to know him or flirt with him. He had to just sneak the file back the next morning and forget this ever happened. Just let it go completely until it was forgotten in his mind forever.

Wish him luck with that.

***

It was raining the next day for majority of the day, which just added to the gloominess of Louis' surroundings. The good part was that the rain meant Louis didn't have to go water anything today, and since the grass was too wet, he didn’t need to cut it either. Because of that, he was just helping around in the main office organizing the pamphlet shelf full of brochures on how to cope with the loss of a family member or friend.

Louis had snuck in before they opened to sneak Anne Cox-Styles' file back into the cabinet. He was super quiet and managed to not get caught by anyone or even get and suspicious looks on his way in, so he was in the clear. 

Whenever it rains, the days are usually super slow. Those who have funerals usually reschedule to when the sky is clear because not many people want the cliché of having rain at a funeral. For those who wanted to keep their funeral scheduled on the planned date, however, Louis would help set up the canopy in order to cover everyone from the water droplets, including the grave. 

Louis usually liked these days because he would stay in the main office with Martha for most of the day. They’d make jokes while Louis wiped down the couple tables where the sign in sheets were, or Martha would yell at him whenever he tried to sneak in a few minutes on his phone. Louis usually spent most of the day outside in the heat all by himself, but on rainy days, he enjoyed the comfort of having Martha for company, and air conditioning so his shirt wouldn’t cling to his back. 

Overall, the day went by slowly, but it was finally 4:30 and everyone was getting ready to close. Louis was mopping the floors when Martha gasped from the window. 

"What?" Louis asked, still keeping his attention on the floor. 

"That poor boy is still here, even when it's pouring," Martha said. "Bless his pure heart."

Immediately, Louis knew who Martha was talking about. He quickly stood the broom against the wall and joined her next to the window and, even through the rain-covered window, Louis could make out Harry, curls sticking to his face, as he walked to his mother's grave drenched in the pouring rain, rose still in hand.

"Do we have an umbrella in here by any chance?" Louis asked. The boy has to be freezing too, but an umbrella would be smart to give to him if he still wanted to talk to his mom. 

"There might be one behind the desk. Go look," Martha said, sadness in her voice. "That poor Harry, just wants to talk to his mommy," Martha added. 

"Wait, how do you know his name?" Louis asked. 

Martha let out a small laugh. "He came in here the first time he visited. Asked if someone could point out where his mother's grave was and said he got lost. No one was here, so I did it," she said. "Such a sweet boy, and his mom was so young." 

A few moments of silence passed before Louis decided it was an okay time to speak. "Do you know how she died?" Louis asked as he grabbed the yellow umbrella from behind the desk. 

"No idea," Martha said. "But I know Harry is still crushed, even two years later." 

"I'm gonna go bring this umbrella out to him," Louis said, putting his jacket on and hood up and wow, was he really doing this?

Less than a day ago he was beginning to convince himself to forget about this boy completely, and here he is, not a day later, ready to converse with Harry for the first time to offer him an umbrella. What an upgrade.

"Okay, honey. Might need to mop the floors again when you get back since they'll be wet from your shoes," she said. 

"I’ll wipe them on the carpet as much as I can, but that's fine, you can head on out. I'll close up," Louis said as he exited and opened the umbrella. 

The sound of the pouring rain drowned in his eardrums. He took one deep breath before he started walking in the direction of Block 12.

He realized as he was walking to Harry that he was actually going to talk to him, as in actually form words. He had been observing him from afar for so long and he's finally built enough courage to engage in a small conversation with him. 

Louis took one last deep breath as he approached the grass of Block 12. Harry must've heard Louis walking towards him because he looked up from where he was sitting on the wet bench. 

As Louis got closer, he could hear Harry's teeth chattering. The boy was freezing even in a forest green sweatshirt and dark jeans. He looked so small on the bench. His sweatshirt was way too big on him and it was practically swallowing him whole. The sleeves on his jacket were covering his hands completely, and his hands were balled into fists as he just sat there like he was waiting for Louis to approach him.

When Louis finally got in front Harry, he noticed that regardless of the sad weather outside, Harry's eyes matched the color of his sweatshirt. They were glossy, but they still were shining. His curls were sticking to his face from underneath the hood of his jacket and his nose was a dark red. He squints his eyes up at Louis, waiting for him to speak. 

"I brought you an umbrella," Louis said over the rain. Before he could even respond, he handed the umbrella to Harry. "I know it's a bit too late now since you're already soaking wet but-"

"Thank you," Harry's voice was small, broken, and Louis probably would've missed it if he wasn’t watching so intently on Harry's lips. 

"Y-you're welcome. Just, uh, come on over to the main building whenever you're done to return it, yeah?" He offered him a smile, a sympathetic one, but he didn't get anything back besides a small nod. He didn't want to just stand there and watch the boy talk to his mom, so Louis turned on his heel and made his way back to the main building. 

Why would he smile at him? He's talking to his dead mother, there's no reason to smile at a stranger just because they offered you an umbrella. Louis scolded himself as the rain hit him on his way back. 

By the time he got to the main building, Martha was already gone. Louis hung up his soaking wet jacket on the hook and wiped his feet on the carpet. The floor was still dirty from Louis' unfinished job moments before, so he decided to finish that up while he waited for Harry to return the umbrella. 

He was just about finished when Harry walked through the door, still soaked, and Louis didn't want him dirtying the newly clean floors. 

Without a word, Louis made his way over to Harry. "Thank you, again," Harry said as he slipped off his wet hood. Right then, Louis realized how softly this boy talked, even when there wasn’t rain to drown out his voice. His words flowed together smoothly like warm milk. From the few words Louis had heard, he could listen to him speak all day. 

"It's no problem. Would you like me to walk you to your car? So you don't get even..more soaked?" Louis offered, letting out a small laugh by accident. He’d hit himself for that later. He knew Harry would probably decline the offer since the parking lot is so close to the main building. 

But what Harry responded with was not at all what Louis was expecting. "That's alright, I walked here."

"You what? It's pouring rain, how could you have walked here?" Louis was stunned, but it made sense as to why he was so soaked. Louis had never seen him get out of a car anyway, nor has he seen him get into one. 

"I don't live very far. My neighborhood is a few blocks away," he responded, trying to fix his hair a bit. 

"Well at least let me drive you," Louis offered again. All he wanted to do was hug this boy and tell him everything was going to be alright. His face was full of pure innocence and Louis just wanted to help him in any way that he could. 

"Thank you, really, but you don't need to-"

"It's no trouble, I promise," Louis said and wow, he was on a roll here with the confidence. Where did this come from? Adrenaline most likely. 

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "I'm drenched. I wouldn't want to ruin your car." 

"Oh, it's okay. I think I have a towel in my back seat," Louis responded, putting the umbrella back behind the counter. 

"Thank you very much, um-"

"Louis," Louis introduced as he walked back up to Harry and stuck his hand out. "I'm, uh, I'm Louis."

"Harry," Harry said as he took Louis' hand in his and shook it. "Thank you so much, again, this is very kind of you."

Martha was right. Louis wanted to drown in this boy's kind words. Each sentence of his was so polite and sweet. His words were molded together like melted chocolate that Louis could listen to all day. 

"Let me just get the rest of my things," Louis said and he thought that Harry must be cold. He remembered that he also had a blanket in the trunk of his car for when he would go on road trips with Niall and made him drive. Louis would take naps in the passenger seat and wanted to be comfortable with one of the softest blankets he owns. He wouldn't mind letting one of the softest people he's ever known use it. What is he saying? He's known the boy for ten minutes.

"Now where on earth are my keys?" Louis thought his keys were in his pocket, but they weren't there when he checked. 

Harry just stood there patiently while Louis was moving all around the room looking for his keys. He was opening drawers in the desk, checking under tables because he may have dropped them. He was literally checking everywhere. He just couldn't remember where his keys were. He was pacing around the room, looking like a damn idiot while this pretty boy watched his every move and he couldn't find his fucking keys. 

"Are these your keys?" Harry asked, pointing to the lonely keys hanging on the hook by the door. 

Louis just let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, yeah those are my keys," and he's never felt more embarrassed. Louis locked everything up and they exited the building. There was a little roof over their heads to stop them from getting wet. "Uh, just wait here. I'll bring the car around," Louis instructed and Harry just nodded in response. 

Louis ran over to his car and immediately went to the trunk to grab the soft blanket. Once he was in the driver's seat of the car, he reached behind him to grab the towel and placed it over the passenger seat. Soft blanket on his lap, Louis started the car and made his way over to Harry, who was waiting patiently by the door. 

Louis waved him over and he just walked to the car, not ran, but walked, as if he had given in completely to the rain. His shoulders were slump as he trudged his way over, similar to how he'd walk to his mother's grave. Louis' heart broke right in that moment. 

He opened the door and got in quickly, completely soaked. He handed Harry the blanket. "Here, I know it's not much, but-"

"It's soft," Harry commented. 

"Yeah, it is," Louis responded. When Louis didn't receive a response, he took that as the cue to start driving. 

Once they got out of the cemetery, Louis figured he should probably ask where to go. "Um, mind directing me where you live, exactly?" He asked. 

"Oh, I live in Lake Estates," he replied. 

"Oh, shit, rich boy over here," Louis commented. Lake Estates was one of the only gated communities in town, and the houses are huge. Some are even three stories. 

After Louis made the comment, he heard Harry chuckle. It was small and to himself, but when Louis glanced over and saw the boy having a little smile on his face, Louis had never felt more proud of himself. He made the broken boy crack a smile. 

"'M not rich," Harry argued. "My par- um, my step-dad just makes a lot of money and knows how to save it and spend it the right way."

When Louis looked back over at Harry, he was no longer smiling, but he was looking straight ahead, face as blank as a sheet of paper, as if he had never showed any emotion whatsoever. 

He watched as Harry pulled the blanket closer and shiver a bit. "Need me to turn the heat on?" Louis asked. 

"No, it's fine, don't worry. Take the next left here," he said. 

"I'll turn the heat on if you'd like," Louis said. 

"Really, it's-"

Louis' hand was already on the button to turn the heat up, so he just pressed it, going against what Harry said. "It's no problem," Louis said as he turned into Lake Estates.

He approached the gate and went to get out his license as he rolled his window down. "I got it," Harry said. "Hi Jeffrey!" He said to the guard. 

Jeffery just waved at Harry and opened the gate for them and Louis couldn't help but laugh. 

"What?" Harry asked. 

"Nothing, nothing. Just tell me where to go," Louis said, giggling to himself.

Harry guided him to go left, right, straight, and yeah, Louis was definitely going to get lost on his way out of here. “Jesus, it’s like you live in fucking Africa,” Louis commented, causing Harry to laugh a loud, obnoxious laugh, and oh. Louis had never heard something more beautiful. He was almost disappointed when Harry covered his mouth seconds after it slipped.

“Sorry, I just didn’t expect you to be one to curse,” Harry said, giggling to himself. Fucking giggling.

“Oh, really, I have a mouth like a fucking sailor,” Louis said.

Harry giggled again. “It’s right there on your left with the,” he let out a sigh, “the silver Porsche.”

Louis pulled into the huge driveway and put the car in park. “Home sweet home,” Louis said and, really? Could he have sounded more like a 40 year-old dad?

“Thanks so much again, Louis,” Harry said, handing Louis back his soft, now slightly wet, blanket. 

“Of course, it’s no problem,” Louis responded and wow, even soaking wet, Harry looked like he belonged in a museum. His curls were drying and his eyes were still the same color as his sweatshirt, making Louis instantly fond over him.

Just as Harry reached for the handle to exit the car, Louis stopped him. “Wait,” he said, and Harry took his hand off the handle and held both his hands up like he was under arrest. The look on his face, eyes wide as if he was a deer in headlights, made Louis laugh for a second before he could speak again. “If you, uh, ever need a ride again and you don’t feel like walking, you could just ask me and I’ll drive you.”

“That’s so kind of you, Louis. Thank you,” Harry replied, small smile forming on his lips, dimple popping out and Louis has never wanted to poke something so much in his life.

“Don’t mention it,” he said and Harry finally opened the door. It was only drizzling now so Harry thanked him again as he shut the door.

Louis watched him take the long walk up the driveway before he pulled out. Once Harry waved to him one last time before opening the door and entering his house, Louis finally pulled out of the driveway.

He wasn’t even concerned at the fact that he had no idea how to get out of this neighborhood, but he was more concerned with the fact that he just had a full on conversation with Harry Styles and he didn’t scare him off completely. Or, at least he didn’t think he did. 

As he drove home, Louis began to think about how easily he had talked to Harry, and how the conversation flowed so smoothly. He also thought about how he even made the boy laugh, which is bonus points in his book. Harry didn’t even have to participate too much in their short car ride conversation, but Louis knew that he was listening as he spoke. 

Louis then began to let his thoughts drift off to the way Harry looked, soaking wet in his forest green sweatshirt, wrapped in Louis’ soft blanket. The way his curls began to naturally dry into perfect ringlets around the frame of his face. The way his mouth formed each word as he spoke to Louis in short sentences. His lips curving in a way that Louis wanted to engrave in his mind forever. His smooth skin shivering as Louis decided to turn the heat on, and wow. What is Louis doing?

And, in that moment, Louis has never felt more fucked than he has right now because damn, this boy was so fucking cute. 

***


	3. Chapter 3

Louis treasured his days off. He usually spent them alone in his room all day unless Niall dragged him out to go do something productive. Days like today were rare because Louis was up before noon to see Niall in the kitchen pouring himself a bowl of Coco Puffs.

“Wow, are you seven?” Louis asked once he noticed Niall’s choice of cereal.

“I’ll have you know that this cereal is one of the greatest ever invented because it turns the milk-“

“Yeah yeah, shut up about your dumbass cereal,” Louis said as he sat down at the little table they had in the kitchen.

“And why the hell are you up so early on your day off?” Niall asked, spooning some cereal into his mouth.

“No idea,” Louis responded, “but since I’m up, wanna do something today?” 

“Can’t. I agreed to go with Zayn to his sister’s dance recital so he isn’t all by himself,” Niall said.

“Well, that’s shit,” Louis said, getting up to put a waffle in the toaster oven.

“You could come if you want? It isn’t until three.”

“Do I have to buy a ticket?”

“Probably, but mine was only $5 because Zayn paid half since I’m going with him.” Niall said, tipping the bowl back to drink the, now chocolate, milk.

“Yeah, I’ll go. Just make sure you check in with Zayn to make sure it’s okay,” Louis said as he kept his eyes on his waffle like a child. 

“Will do,” Niall replied as he put the dirty bowl in the sink and turned to walk away.

“Hey,” Louis stopped him, “wash your shit.”

Niall groaned as he turned back around to attend to his dirty dish while Louis smiled at him in satisfaction. He wanted to let out an evil laugh for good measure, but he wasn’t that extra.

Louis ate his waffle that he drowned in maple syrup, to which Niall laughed at since Louis was the one calling him a child. After that, it was almost noon so Louis hopped in the shower before he got ready to go to the show. Niall informed him that the doors opened at 2:30, but Zayn wanted to be there at 2 so that Louis could purchase his ticket properly and so that they weren’t rushed. The seats were first come first serve, but Zayn knew the crazy dance moms will already be lined up to get good seats at around 1, so he didn’t care that they had to sit in the back. 

Zayn picked the both of them up at around 1:45 and they made their way to the high school that the recital took place at. Louis had no idea how to dress for this occasion, and neither did Niall, so they both winged it and just wore a plain t-shirt and jeans. Turned out that they weren’t too far off because Zayn was wearing a leather jacket, a t-shirt, and jeans as well. 

“Why the fuck are you wearing that leather jacket, bro? It’s June in Florida. You’re gonna die of heat stroke,” Niall commented from the front seat and Zayn chuckled from the driver’s seat.

“I’ve been going to these things for six years, so I know that where we’re gonna be sitting, it’s fucking freezing,” Zayn said.

“Well, you could’ve warned us!” Louis shouted from the back seat and Zayn just shrugged. 

“You’ll be fine,” Zayn replied as he turned the radio on. 

When they got to the school, the parking lot was filled with families with flowers and teddy bears, ready to congratulate the dancers after the show. They walked inside to only see more people with flowers and a long line that looked like it had formed hours ago. 

The three of them headed for the front desk where the tickets were being sold, along with some snacks and beverages, trophies available to purchase, and a lot of merchandise having to do with what Louis assumed to be the dance studio.

“How can I help you?” The lady at the front desk, whose name tag read ‘Linda’, asked Louis when he approached her.

“Hi, could I just buy one ticket, please?” Louis asked and she nodded while Louis took out his wallet to pay her. 

“That would be $10,” she said and Louis handed her the cash. 

Once he thanked her for the ticket, the three of them went to the back of the long line to wait for the doors to open.

“So Zayn, are your parents coming also?” Louis asked, trying to make conversation.

“Oh,” Zayn said smiling awkwardly, “my parents aren’t really around much, so I’m the one that goes to these things.”

“Ah, right. Niall mentioned you were originally going alone. My bad,” Louis apologized because he’s an idiot and should’ve guessed that Zayn’s parents weren’t coming because why else would he beg Niall to go with him?

The doors finally opened and as expected, the three of them got stuck sitting in one of the last rows on the end, it being one of the only set of three open seats. They were each handed a program as they entered, and the book was super thick.

“Jesus,” Niall commented, “the hell do they put in these things? Every dancer’s life story?”

“The studio is so big that they have five shows. This is the last one and the program has the order for each show because every single one is different,” Zayn explained.

“How many dances is your sister in?” Louis asked.

“Uh, she told me four this year. You can just find her name under the dances and we’ll see which ones she’s in.”

They were reading the program book in silence when Niall suddenly groaned. “Is there gonna be ballet?” 

Zayn laughed. “It’s a pretty professional studio. Of course there’s gonna be ballet.”

Niall groaned again and Louis rolled his eyes at him. “This is a dance recital, Niall. What did you expect? Bull riding?” Louis said and Niall smacked his arm while Zayn laughed along. 

After waiting another half hour, the lights finally dimmed signifying that the show was starting. People all around them were clapping when someone welcomed them and thanked everyone for coming, announced the studio name and to enjoy the show. 

Zayn’s sister wasn’t on until the fourth dance, but Louis still made sure to pay attention to each dance. The first one consisted of everyone on the dance company that went around the state competing with other studios. Louis was stunned at how amazing they were and he wished he knew more about dance so he could compliment them properly, but he wasn’t. 

The next two dances were the little kids who had no idea what they were doing. Each girl was looking to the person next to them to figure out the next move, making the crowd laugh and grow fond at the same time. One of the dances had each dancer do cartwheels across the stage after the dance ended, and Louis couldn’t even describe how funny that was. One little girl didn’t even want to go and started crying, forcing one of the teachers to come on stage, walk with her and made her wave to the crowd, trying to make her smile.

It was finally the fourth dance and Zayn’s sister, who Louis finally learned was called Safaa, was performing. Once the dance started, Zayn pointed her out to the two of them, which was easy because she was front and center. She looked so young, but she danced as if she belonged on the company that was in the first dance. He noted in his mind to ask Zayn about that later. 

Safaa was one of the few girls that stood out to Louis in the dance. It was labeled as a jazz dance and the song was some upbeat pop song Louis had never heard of called ‘Party Around the World’. The dance was divided into three colors, pink, blue and green and Safaa was blue. She remained in front for a lot of the dance and Louis was sad when it ended.

During intermission, after seeing Safaa perform her ballet/pointe dance, was when Louis complimented Safaa to Zayn directly and discussed with him how amazing she was. When he asked why she wasn’t on the company, Zayn simply replied and said it was just too expensive and for her to do as much dance that she does now is even a struggle, so Louis understands completely and drops the subject altogether.

He just couldn’t get over how intriguing and eye-catching she was. He was surprisingly really enjoying himself.

***

Once the show was over, the three had to wait outside for Safaa to gather her things and bring it all outside. The boys waited, bouquet of flowers in Zayn’s hand. Once she finally came out, Louis recognized her immediately from the same gigantic smile that beamed on the stage. Zayn greeted her and gave her the flowers before introducing her to Louis and Niall.

“You were absolutely amazing,” Louis complimented and she thanked him. 

Zayn thought it would be a good idea to go out to eat to celebrate and congratulate Safaa and Louis and Niall could get to know her. After a long debate, they all decided to let Safaa choose the place they go to dinner, to which she chose Chili’s. 

On the car ride there, which Niall let Safaa take the front seat so he could sit back with Louis, Niall decided to have a conversation about her ballet dance. 

“So you’re just on your tip toes and it doesn’t hurt?” he asked.

“Of course it hurts,” she replied, “that’s why you never look at a dancer’s feet. They’re disgusting.”

Niall’s face lit up while Louis cringed. “How disgusting?” Niall asked excitedly.

“Depends on how much dance you do,” she said and Niall begged her to show him her feet, but she wouldn’t do it.

When they arrived at Chili’s, the wait wasn’t long at all for a Saturday night. They were all shocked at how fast they got a table. Safaa and Zayn sat across from Louis and Niall as they looked at the menus. Their waitress took their drink orders and gave them a minute before ordering their food. 

“So, how do you guys know Zayn?” Safaa asked, making conversation. 

“I work with him, and then Louis is my roommate,” Niall explained and Louis nodded. 

“He’s the guy I told you about that steals some of the popcorn from the machine,” Zayn explained and Niall went wide-eyed.

“That was supposed to remain our secret, you little shit!” Niall yelled and the rest of them laughed. 

Once they their drinks arrived and they placed their orders for their meals, Safaa said something that confused Louis.

“So Zayn,” she said, sipping her water, “did you speak to dad today? He told me he was gonna call you.” 

Louis was super confused, since he knew that earlier today Zayn told him that his parents weren’t around. Louis figured he just shouldn’t assume what Zayn meant by that, but he was still curious and maybe Niall is as well.

Zayn however looked taken aback and also angry at Safaa for bringing up their father at dinner. “We’ll talk about that later,” he said calmly, trying to look as casual as possible. 

There was a beat of silence that passed and Louis could feel the tension and awkwardness over the unwanted topic that was brought up. He knew this had to be something that Zayn is embarrassed of, but Louis still felt a bit guilty that he had to witness the atmosphere at the table shift. From that moment on, Zayn was acting super different. They had gotten their food and ate in silence, besides Niall’s comments on the food and small talk he had with Safaa, who kept her eyes glued to her phone almost the whole time.

Louis really felt bad, regardless of how much he knew Zayn and his sister because this was supposed to be a dinner to congratulate Safaa and now it’s filled with awkwardness. Louis decided he would try to lighten the mood.

“So did Niall ever tell you why he got fired from his last job?” Louis asked Zayn and he shook his head, smile peeking out from the corners of his lips as he chewed his food. From next to him, Niall hit Louis’ arm. 

“Is tonight just ‘Embarrass Niall’ night?” he asked and Louis chuckled as he continued.

“Okay, so he worked at Carvel, right? Love that place,” he began, “but Niall over here made it into the one place he used to pick up chicks. He’d offer them a free sample, but give them one in a cup, claiming they ‘ran out of sample spoons’,” he used air quotes there. “So he’d take a cup and almost fill it to the brim as a ‘free sample’ and just told the girls to keep quiet about it and then ask them out.”

Zayn started laughing hysterically. “Well,” he said, swallowing is food, “did it work?”

Niall rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Only sometimes, okay? One girl thought I was insulting her by giving her a big sample because that automatically means I’m calling her fat.”

Zayn and Louis were laughing even harder now and Safaa even joined, finally putting her phone down on her lap. 

The tension was lifted and the four of them kept telling embarrassing work stories, mostly about embarrassing Niall and then Niall trying to get back at Zayn and failing. Louis was having an amazing time until Zayn brought up the one topic he wanted to avoid.

“So how’s the cute boy you admire at work, Louis?” he asked and Niall looked at him in curiosity. He hadn’t told Niall about giving Harry a ride home yesterday because he wanted to think nothing of it. Just a nice gesture of giving someone an umbrella and a ride home because it was raining. That was all he wanted it to be. 

“Wait, you like a boy?” Safaa asked, huge smile on her face. “Do you have a picture?”

“No, I don’t,” Louis answered. “But he had curly brown hair and green eyes, super cute. Don’t really wanna talk about him to be honest,” Louis laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

“Why? Have you talked to him?” Niall asked.

“Well, yeah, but-“

“You talked to him?!” Niall shouted. “And you didn’t tell me?!”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal! It was raining at work yesterday when he came so I gave him an umbrella-“

“OH MY GOD!” Safaa shrieked like a teenager, which she was so it was acceptable. 

Louis laughed nervously again. “Then when he returned it, I offered to walk him to his car. And he told me he walked here. In the rain. So I offered him a ride home.”

The three of them gasped. “And then you fucked, right?” Zayn asked and Louis burst out into laughter.

“No, you idiot, I’m not stupid,” he said, “he lives in Lake Estates.”

“Wow, rich boy,” Niall added, raising his eyebrows at Louis and he smacked his shoulder.

“All of you are fucking teenagers,” he commented, “no offense Safaa.”

“None taken,” she said as she giggled into her hands. 

“So what did you guys talk about during the car ride? Anything interesting?” Niall asked.

Louis started to tell the story about what happened with Harry from beginning to end. He didn’t want to make it seem like he was absolutely obsessed with Harry after only having a small conversation with him in his car, but that’s exactly what he made it seem like. The way he talked about Harry and how soft he looked cuddled up in Louis’ blanket and how Louis blushed when he caught Harry smiling, he knew he was screwed when it came to embarrassing himself. He also told them how he offered to drive Harry home whenever he needed it.

“Oh my god, that’s so cute,” Safaa commented and Louis laughed.

“I was only trying to be nice,” Louis defended.

“So when his dick is in your mouth are you still gonna use the excuse that you were ‘trying to be nice?’” Zayn asked and Louis picked up a piece of the food left on his plate and put it in Zayn’s water for payback. 

Overall, Louis had a great time with his friends, and yes, he could call Zayn one of his friends now because he’s great to Niall. And by great, he means he teases Niall almost as much as Louis does, which Louis finds terrific. 

They spend the rest of the night at Zayn’s house after dinner, just talking about nonsense until Safaa admits that she’s tired from her dance recital and needed to go to bed. The three of them said goodnight and she went to bed. Zayn listened until her door shut before he whispered for the two to follow him. He led them outside in the backyard, where there was a table for all of them to sit. They all sat down and Zayn pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Louis commented.

“I don’t do it much. Only when I’m stressed out,” he said, lighting the white stick that hung from his lips. 

“You’re stressed?” Niall asked.

Zayn sighed. “I bet you guys are wondering about the whole dad thing,” he said and Niall and Louis looked at each other, nodding slightly. Zayn sighed again. “My dad’s in prison.”

Louis was shocked. Zayn seemed as though he came from a loving and supportive family. He had no idea, and Louis felt bad for assuming anything that was even slightly bad about him.

“Shit,” the word escaped Louis’ lips before his mind could process a legitimate reaction. “Fuck, sorry,” he apologized for his reaction, only leading it to look like that’s his reaction in the first place, just an apology.

“I knew he was a fuck up, but like, I didn’t know it was that bad,” Zayn explained. 

“What did he do?”

“Drug shit. But he told us once my mom caught him that he was really careful, that he hid it all from me and Safaa, but when Safaa was ten, she found a bag of cocaine under a couch cushion when she dropped her iPod down there. Within a year he was caught by the cops and sent to prison.”

“Holy shit,” Niall said, ruffling a hand through his hair, sighing deeply. “I’m so sorry, bro. Really.”

“After that, my mom went nuts without my father. He was the man of the house; you know? I mean, I was there too but I had no responsibilities. My mom just…went berserk and within a few months of my dad going to jail, my mom was put in an institution for bipolar disorder. Since I was over 18, I was able to take care of my sister without her getting put in a foster home.”

This whole thing was mind blowing to Louis. He had no idea how to handle a situation like this. The fact that this guy has been through hell and back the last few years, all Louis wanted to do was hug him. Even though Zayn looked like he could squash Louis like a bug at any moment, so maybe hugging wasn’t the best idea. 

“Well,” Niall began, breaking the silence, “if it makes you feel any better, Safaa is a wonderful girl so you’re doing a great job.” Louis smiled sympathetically, agreeing with his best friend.  
“Niall, I swear to god if you try anything with my sister-“

Niall put his hands up in defense while Louis started laughing hysterically. “I’m not! I’m not! I swear!” 

After that, the atmosphere seemed lighter, more relaxed. The three sat outside for a while just talking; embarrassing Niall every once in a while, telling funny stories about Louis’ and Niall’s adventures from college, just basically anything. 

“I promise you, I had no idea I was even doing it!” Niall defended.

“Oh please, Niall. Don’t even try to pretend that you had no idea you were peeing yourself at our first tailgate,” Louis said, thinking back to the first time Louis and Niall got drunk together. 

Niall put a hand up to his mouth as if he was about to tell Zayn a secret. “I was so trashed that I probably just couldn’t feel it.” He wasn’t even whispering, just making it seem like it was something no one knew, but everyone did.

Once Zayn drove Louis and Niall home, Louis immediately went straight to bed, completely exhausted from the day of watching dance and telling funny stories. He had fun actually doing something on his day off, and after he said goodnight to Niall, as he laid there in his bed, he thought he should do things like that more often.

***


	4. Chapter 4

Sunday’s were hectic. They just always were. People are off work early and they tend to pay their respects to their lost loved ones, which Louis always respected. 

He preferred to stay out of people’s way on most Sunday’s. Sunday’s are the most common days for funerals to occur and sometimes that amount of sadness in one place is too much for Louis. One can only take so much. 

Because of this, Louis liked to stay in the least crowded block in order to keep his distance. Block 4 seemed pretty empty so that’s where he began watering the flowers. After that, he’d move on to trimming the bushes, polishing some gravestones and cleaning up any trash that anyone had the nerve to leave. Every once in a while, someone would come up to him, confusion in their eyes, and ask where a certain block is, or how to even read the map given to them at the entrance. Louis would point them in the right direction, give a small sympathetic look, and get back to work.

Louis was very precise with his work. Since he was in charge of most of the colorful things in this cemetery, he wanted to make sure everything was perfect, even if a lot of people pay no attention to the vibrant colors of such a depressing place. 

Louis could never explain to someone why he wanted to work in a cemetery, yet he really enjoys seeing people’s faces when he tells them about his current choice of occupation. To make it better, this was the first and only job he applied for straight out of college. He was lucky enough to get it and he’s still grateful to this day.

As for the psychology behind his choice, Louis, ironically, can’t pinpoint the actual thoughts that went through his mind when he applied for this job. The way Niall words it is that Louis just has a soft spot for sad people, which Louis will always deny. As much sympathy that Louis has for the mourning people, Louis doesn’t have a soft spot for anything or anyone. Besides puppies. Louis loves puppies. 

He takes this time to think about his first day on the job at East Hillside. He was so beyond nervous that Niall had to slap him across the face to make him stop jittering while he ate his cereal. Usually Louis would punch Niall right back, but in this situation, the slap was very necessary. 

The first person he met here was Martha. She offered Louis a kind smile when he walked in. Once he told her his name and that he was new at working here, Martha was the one to show him where all the equipment was and what to do at certain hours such as water the plants in the afternoon and save trimming bushes and cutting the grass for when it isn’t as hot out. Learning this stuff from Martha made Louis feel a little more comfortable and less nervous. He made a few jokes here and there to Martha about how gloomy the place looked and how it could use something brighter and surprisingly, Martha took it seriously. She told Louis then that if he wanted to make the place look a bit “less gloomy” that he would be the one in charge of that. Now, whenever Martha questions Louis about anything, he just simply replies “remember who you put in charge, Martha.”

Meeting the other faculty at East Hillside was eventful as well. There was one other gardener named Charlie that had recently cut back his hours in order to help raise a child with his wife. Louis had only met Charlie twice before he quit to go to a job with more flexible hours, which, Louis didn’t blame him for that, and because of that, Louis didn’t have anyone to boss around. Martha claims that was a good thing but Louis begs to differ. However, Louis was apparently doing such a great job on his own that no one thought they needed another gardener to work alongside Louis. 

Then there were the Family Service Advisors that help with the families of the people who had passed. They usually keep to themselves and don’t really converse with the other faculty members but Louis thinks one of their names is Stephanie. 

The manager of the cemetery, Ryan, barely stepped foot in the place. Louis met him once after working there for three months when he had to have a meeting with the Family Service Advisors and once he left, Martha told him all the beef. 

“He manages all the cemeteries in the county, and no one knows how he does it. My theory is that he has people working in his basement for him while he plays Angry Birds,” Martha said, obviously joking on the last part. 

“First of all, Angry Birds is so 2011. Second, have you ever talked to the guy?” 

“More over the phone than in person since he works from home, but yeah, we’ve talked.”

When Louis had introduced himself to Ryan, he seemed like he had a million of better things to care about, acting like a complete asshole and Louis was shocked. No one deserves to be disrespected like that from another employee. The way Ryan looked screamed intimidating. His hair was salt and pepper colored, eyes were light brown, and his beard and mustache meshed together perfectly as if it was their job. He looked like a legitimate business man that Louis most certainly did not want to piss off, so he kept the conversation short, mentioning how he felt great for working here and was glad to make the place a bit brighter with his flowers. 

After Ryan barely acknowledged his words by replying with a simple “pleasure to have you here,” Louis decided that he didn’t like this guy at all, and after Martha explained the drama with him, he doesn’t like him even more. 

Ryan didn’t really bother him, however, since Martha basically ran the place since Ryan was never there. Martha said he once told him that he was more of a “behind the scenes” worker which, bullshit, but Louis would never question him or what he’s capable of because, well, did he mention how intimidating this man looked?

Louis was interrupted from his thoughts to a loud sob coming from the block next to him. A funeral was happening and the small sea of black surrounding the tent over the grave was now surrounding a woman who had collapsed to her knees from crying so hard. The sound of people screaming “no” or “why” as they watched their loved one put in the ground is truly heartbreaking for Louis. It makes him wonder about the people; how did the person lose their life? Was it sudden? Was it disease? Or was it unknown? Who was the loved one? A child? A mother? Father? A husband? Or a wife? Everything about it was a mystery, and for some reason, that always intrigued Louis. Not knowing these things made him sad, sure, but his curiosity gets the best of him at times.

And this was exactly what had happened with Harry. He needed to know who Harry felt the need to visit daily and just sit and talk to. Louis felt horrible when he found out it was Harry’s mom, because no one at his age deserves to lose their mother. Louis could never even imagine what his life would be without his mother. Yes, for the time being, Louis and his mother weren’t on the best terms, but Louis felt comfort knowing that if he were in trouble, his mother was just a phone call away, ready to help as if she was a personal super hero. 

For example, there was one day where Louis was driving home from college with Niall and he got a flat tire on the road. Louis panicked and called his mom instead of someone who could actually help with the tire. Louis’ mom ended up staying on the phone with him the whole time while Niall called a tow truck company. Louis just knew that if he didn’t have his mother to call and relax him at that time, who knows what could’ve happened.

Louis didn’t even know if Harry was a momma’s boy or if he was one of those people that didn’t realize what he had until it was gone. Maybe Harry is making up for all the time he had lost with his mother by visiting her every day. Or maybe he just misses his mom.

Louis stops his thoughts because they’re getting too far. He feels horrible for assuming these things about Harry when he hardly knows him. What he does know, however, is that he did make this boy laugh once, and that makes all the guilt of the assumptions disintegrate into tiny specs of dust in Louis’ mind. 

***

Throughout the day, Louis would take breaks and go inside the main building and hang out with Martha. Florida heat can be so intense at times that people just have to go inside for a few minutes just to cool off. Louis had to drink tons of water in order to not pass out, which meant he had to take multiple bathroom breaks on top of that. It was just an endless cycle.

On one of Louis’ bathroom breaks, he was walking out of the restroom when a very angry woman was yelling at Martha, who looked petrified behind the desk while the lady held the hand of a boy who had to be no more than 5 years old. 

“There’s bird poop all over my mother’s grave! Do you know how disgusting that is?” Tears were falling down her cheeks in anger. As her voice grew louder, the boy dropped his mother’s hand and grabbed onto her leg and hid his face.

“Ma’am I can promise you that our faculty will have it cleaned in no time with no extra charge-“ The expression on Martha’s face showed complete panic. Louis didn’t understand. Martha has had to deal with this kind of situation plenty of times before, what made this one different?

“No extra charge? You think that’s what I’m worried about? Money? My son just had to see his grandmother’s tombstone covered in bird feces! Do you know how grossed out he must feel?”

“I’m sorry for that, but-“ 

“Sorry doesn’t save the fact that I’m suing this place for terrible service!” 

And that’s when Louis decided to step in. “Woah, woah, what seems to be the problem here?” he asked.

The red-faced woman looked at Louis, who was still dripping in sweat from the high temperatures outside. “None of your concern, boy,” the woman spat. She looked Louis up and down and Louis knew she was immediately judging him by his appearance. He may not look like he had an important role here at East Hillside, with his clothes drenched in sweat and his hair still sticking to his forehead, but Louis knew exactly what to say to get out of this problem. All he needed was for this woman to cooperate. 

Louis decided to calmly approach the woman, explain his role here, in case that was misinterpreted, explained the policy they have at East Hillside, and what he can do to make the situation lighter by offering to grow some special flowers right by the woman’s mother’s grave free of charge for the inconvenience. For a moment, Louis even spotted a brief smile come across the distraught woman’s lips. All in all, Louis’ explanation seemed to calm the woman, and the boy, down to a point where the boy wasn’t holding onto his mommy’s leg for dear life. 

Louis saw a familiar innocence in that boy’s green eyes that looked oddly similar to a specific boy with green eyes that has been in his thoughts recently, but before he could think much of it, the woman was thanking Louis and Martha, saying she’d be back tomorrow, and walking out the door. 

“Martha, why did you look so scared? It’s just bird shit,” Louis asked.

“Did you not know who that was?” Martha asked after she let out a deep breath. 

“No? Who?”

“That was Gemma Styles; she’s a lawyer that took over her mother’s company and if she sued us, we’d be done for. Everyone knows the Styles’ family can actually burry you when it comes to lawsuits, no pun intended.”

And it all made sense. In the few sentences that Martha just told Louis, a lot of questions were answered, but also a lot more were forming. The familiar eyes were those of Harry’s family. Harry had a nephew, Harry’s mom had a grandson, Harry’s mom was a lawyer, his family had a famous law firm. Louis’ head was spinning for so long and he was starting to get dizzy. 

***  
Once the temperature died down a little bit and the sun was setting, this was when Louis was most productive. There were no more funerals were beginning, no more sounds of sobbing, just the few people that stop in after work to visit their loved ones. He’d take this time to trim most bushes and trees that he had skipped throughout the day. He’d also plant more flowers, clean more tombstones, and polish some of the more expensive benches that some people bought. 

When he approached a specific bench in Block 12, he made sure to clean the stone very well, and plant tons of new flowers; roses included since those were the flowers that Harry liked to put onto or next to the grave, and he planted them near the grave and the bench. Louis didn’t want to just please Gemma, but also Harry because he had a great feeling that he would appreciate these flowers so much. The different colors that will soon surround the grave itself will make Harry smile, which is definitely not something Louis thinks about constantly. No, not at all.

Just as Louis was about to start making his way back to the main building when he saw the familiar mop of curly hair walking closer and closer to where Louis was. Louis was finished planting the flowers and polishing the bench, he was just gathering his tools when he spotted Harry from a distance. At first, Louis thinks that he shouldn’t stay there and wait for Harry to approach the grave, to be respectful towards Harry if he wants to talk to his mom, but his legs think faster than his head and they were stuck right in their place, not daring to move an inch. His eyes just stayed on Harry as he walked closer to Louis. 

“Hey,” he said quietly once Harry was in earshot.

A small smile played on Harry’s lips once he realized Louis was there. “Hi, Louis,” he greeted. The way that he said Louis’ name is a sound he will never get over, even if he had only heard him say his name like twice. His knees felt weak but at the same time, they were buckled and Louis still felt like he couldn’t move. 

“Nice to see you not drenched from the rain,” Louis said and Harry’s smile grew. Louis’ heart was going to beat out of its chest at this point.

“Yeah, um, nice to see you, uh, without an umbrella?” Harry chuckled to himself, causing Louis to chuckle in return.

Louis cleared his throat. “Listen, I can leave you alone if you’d like. I was cleaning the stone and planting some flowers and-“

“Could you stay, please?” Harry’s voice was so small and dainty, Louis almost didn’t hear it. It reminded him of the first time they talked when Harry’s voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the rain. This time the only sound that could drain Harry’s voice was the loud thud going on with Louis’ heart right now. 

Louis barely knew Harry and he was getting so nervous around him. It shocks him because he doesn’t feel this way towards people. Or, at least, he hasn’t in a really long time. Not since James in high school, which is a whole different story that Louis prefers not to think about, but because of that, Louis has almost built a wall around himself when it came to his feelings towards people, but with Harry, Louis would knock those walls down in a second just to let Harry in. He wants to let Harry in so that he can help put him back together. This boy was broken and Louis wanted to be the one to fix him. 

“Uh, yeah, sure-“

“You’re just, like,” he was talking so slow, trying to find the right words to say, “a bundle of positive energy for such a, um, place like this.” Harry was fidgeting with the loose strings on the bottom of his maroon sweater. Louis didn’t understand how Harry could be wearing a sweater in this heat, but he didn’t think too much of it. The way the dark red contrasted with Harry’s pale skin made him look like a soft bunny rabbit and- wait fuck what’s Louis doing. 

Louis laughed as he looked at his feet, and then at Harry’s feet, which were covered with light brown boots which Louis noticed were scuffed up around the toes. “Happy to raise the positivity,” he said before clearing his throat again and adding, “maybe you could introduce me to…” Louis had to pretend that he didn’t know this was Harry’s mother in order to save himself from a lot of awkward silences and failed attempts of explanations to both Harry and Martha. Now was also not the time to tell Harry that he had just met his sister today while she was yelling at Martha. He’ll save that story for another time, one that’s more appropriate. 

“My mom,” Harry replied and the two stood in silence for a second as they both glanced at the grave. Harry sat down on the bench and patted the seat next to him for Louis to sit. He was surprised Harry let him stay there and keep him company while he spoke with his dead mother. Once Louis sat down was when Harry began his introduction. “Mom, this is Louis, the um, the one I told you about. The guy with the flowers.”

***


	5. Chapter 5

_“The guy with the flowers.”_

The words floated in Louis’ head like actual flower petals. Not only had Harry mentioned him to his mom, but he had referred to him as ‘the guy with the flowers’ and Louis had never felt so fond in his life. He had to hide the blush on his face because, well, he was so beyond flattered that he didn’t know what to do with himself. How should he respond to this? Probably wait to ask Harry about it once he’s done talking to his mom, but what would he even say?

Harry told his mom about his day as if he had been doing this for years, and Louis was so focused on the words coming off Harry’s lips. It was so satisfying to hear Harry’s voice even if he was only talking about how his dog was eating from the trash can again. Louis didn’t mind not knowing about any of the people he talked about. He was just honored to be sitting here with Harry as he opened up to his mother. He felt closer to Harry.

In that moment, Louis knew he had to stop at nothing to care for this boy, no matter what it took.

When Harry looked over at Louis and said he was done and that he was going to go home, Louis immediately wanted to stop him. It wasn’t until Harry was basically walking away that Louis finally called to him. “Wait!” he said. Harry turned back to him, questioning look spread on his face. “Can I give you a ride?”

***

Louis stopped in the main building to gather his things. When Martha said that she would be closing for the night, Louis took that as an okay for him to leave. He met with Harry at the door and set out for his car.

The beginning of the ride was silent until Louis couldn’t fight the urge to ask Harry what he’s been wanting to ask him since the moment he said it. “So,” Louis said, clearing his throat once again, “the guy with the flowers?”

Louis had the privilege of glancing over at Harry at just the right time because his cheeks almost matched the color of his sweater perfectly. Harry pulled his sleeves down past his wrists. “Um, yeah. I kinda told her about you. I hope that’s not weird or anything,” he said, voice sounding so soft and unsure that Louis just wanted to hold his hand and- Louis stop.

“Not weird at all, I promise,” Louis replied, glancing at Harry and giving him a reassuring smile. “I’m actually honored to have been mentioned.”

"Really?”

“Of course! _The_ Harry told _the_ Harry’s mother about lil ole me? What an honor,” and yes, there was a tad of sarcasm in Louis’ voice, but it made Harry laugh and that was all that mattered. The lightness of the small laugh made chills run down Louis’ spine, which didn’t even make sense but, like, did any of the things that Louis was feeling because of this boy make sense? No, not at all. “As long as nothing bad was said about me.”

“No! Of course not. Although…”

“What?!” Louis shouted and Harry’s laugh echoed throughout the car and Louis wanted to listen to it forever. “Although what, curly?”

Harry spoke through his smile, probably having to do with the nickname Louis most certainly did not mean to give him. “My sister probably had some not-so-nice words to say about you, I’m sure,” and, okay, so they were going to discuss this now. That’s fine.

“Yeah got to meet her today,” Louis said.

“You did? Oh goodness, how bad was she?”

“Not bad at all. I reasoned with her and I cleaned the stone and everything. All fine and no worries,” Louis explained.

“Wow.”

“Wow what?”

“Just wow,” Harry said, chuckling.

"The hell are you chuckling for?”

 Louis was interrupted by Harry greeting the guard at the gate and being let in. When Harry still didn’t answer Louis’ question, Louis continued. “Well?”

 “Well what?” Harry kept chuckling.

 “Stop laughing! Why are you laughing?” Louis tried showing frustration but he only ended up laughing along with Harry over who knows what.

 The two continued laughing all the way until they reached Harry’s house and the laughter on Harry’s end stopped abruptly and his smile dropped completely. Louis noticed this and followed Harry’s eyes over to what he thought made the broken boy be broken again. “What’s wrong?” Louis was concerned because it looked like Harry was just staring at a car.

“Nothing, um, just… my step-dad’s girlfriend is here and um,” he swallowed a lump in his throat, “she’s not my favorite person.”

Louis thought fast. He felt bad for Harry and didn’t want to force him to go inside where he didn’t feel comfortable with his step-dad’s girlfriend. “Well, you don’t have to go home yet, right? Are you hungry? Do you wanna go get something to eat?” Louis didn’t have to do this, but he wanted to. He wanted Harry to smile forever and if that meant taking him out to eat to prevent him from seeing someone he doesn’t want to, then so be it. Anything to keep those dimples visible.

“She’s probably cooking in there,” Harry began, “trying to win over me and my sister.” Harry looked down at his hands where he played with the hem of his sweater again. Louis swore he heard Harry lightly sniffle and no, that is not happening. Not on Louis’ watch.

“What’s your favorite restaurant?” Louis asked as he put his car in reverse and began backing out of Harry’s driveway. 

***

Italian. Harry really liked Italian.

Not just your average pizza place like Pizza Hut and Domino’s, but fantastic Italian food at a reasonable price. Louis had never been to Sal’s before, but Harry claimed their pizza was “to die for” and Louis couldn’t argue with that.

They were sat at a table waiting on their salads to start when Harry spoke up. “You really didn’t have to do this, Louis.”

“No, I didn’t,” he said, “but I really wanted to.” Louis smiled at Harry and Harry returned the gesture. “Besides, maybe I can upgrade from ‘the guy with the flowers’ to ‘the guy that buys me pizza’,” and this caused Harry to laugh again and wow, Louis was getting good at this.

“So tell me about yourself, Louis. What’s your story?” Harry asked, putting his head in his hands in a way that showed he was interested in what Louis had to say about himself.

“Well,” Louis began, “what do you wanna know?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Is this twenty questions?”

“It can be,” Harry said, wiggling his eyebrows at Louis teasingly, sipping his water.

“Can we just skip to the question where you ask how many people I’ve fucked?” Louis replied and Harry choked on his water.

“All I asked was your favorite color-“ he said after he swallowed the water.

“I know, I’m joking,” Louis said, trying to hold in his laughter.

After Harry went back to drinking his water, he decided he should probably answer Harry’s question. “I like red,” Louis said, “kinda like the color of your sweater.”

“So a dark red?”

“Maroon.”  
  
“Interesting.”

“What about you? What’s your favorite color?”

“I like blue,” Harry replied, “kinda like your eyes.” His smile was peeking out and so was his dimple and wow Louis wanted to poke it.

The questions went on while they ate their food and Louis found out all sorts of things about Harry. He liked kittens, hated the beach, loved watching romantic comedies, his favorite being The Notebook, he had his sister Gemma and that was his only sibling, and when Louis asked what his favorite thing to do in his free time was, he said cuddling with his kitten, Mitch, which, wow, Louis felt so fond.

Compared to Harry, Louis was boring. Harry was a book full of pictures and all sorts of illustrations and Louis was a dictionary. His life was full of colors and Louis only saw the darker, gloomy ones when Harry would come to the cemetery. Every once in a while, back at the cemetery, before Louis talked to Harry, he’d glance over and watch him while he planted flowers in the blocks nearby and see Harry somewhat smiling as he talked to his mom, but other than that, there were a lot of tears, sniffling, and an overall feeling of sadness where Harry was. Now that Louis is getting to know Harry more and more, he’s beginning to think that this broken boy wasn’t so broken, but only cracked.

The two of them stayed at Sal’s for two and a half hours before Harry got a call from, who Louis assumed was either his step dad or his step dad’s girlfriend. Harry had to explain where he was and apologize for not letting anyone know. After he hung up, he told Louis that he needed to head home or else he’ll be dead before Louis could see him again.

Louis could listen to Harry talk about himself all day if he could. He’d let Harry tell stories about his childhood, about his friends, his family, weird things he liked and enjoyed, all of it. He wanted to know everything about Harry and it almost scared him because he had never talked to the boy a week ago.

When Louis finally had to say goodbye when he dropped Harry off, Harry stopped halfway out of the car. “You know,” he turned and looked at Louis, “I should probably get your number.”

“You know,” Louis mocked back, “that sounds like a really useful idea.”

“In case I need a ride.”

“Yeah, in case you need a ride.”

“Or more pizza.”

“Or more pizza,” Louis repeated.

After a beat of silence, Harry, looking flustered, reached for his phone in his pocket and handed it to Louis. “Um, here.”

Louis typed in his phone number. “I’m gonna call myself and hang up so I have your number,” Louis said.

“Yeah, um, cool, okay.”

Louis called himself and waited for the phone in the cup holder beside him to vibrate. He hung up on Harry’s phone, which, might Louis add, was covered in a plain light blue case. Louis knew he wasn’t lying about his favorite color. 

When Louis hung up and pressed the home button, he briefly saw a kitten set as the wallpaper. “Hey,” he started, “is this Mitch?” Louis held the phone out for Harry to see.

Harry laughed lightly. “Yeah, that’s little Mitchy.”

Louis turned the phone back to look at the kitten himself. “So this is who receives all the famous Harry cuddles?”

Harry laughed a little louder this time, dimple making an appearance again. Hello dimple, you were missed. “Indeed he is.”

Louis chuckled to himself and handed Harry’s phone back to him. Harry nervously smiled as he resumed getting out of Louis’ car. “Thanks again, Louis, really,” Harry said.

“Any time, curly,” Louis replied and Harry smiled and looked down at his shoes and if Louis didn’t know any better, he would think Harry was blushing. Louis wanted to punch himself in the face for how soft he is feeling for this boy right now.

With one more small wave, Harry shut the door, made his way to the front door of his house, gave Louis one last wave, and went inside.

He glanced at his phone to see a missed call from a number; Harry’s number. He immediately saved the number to his phone and pulled out of the driveway for the second time that day. 

Internally, Louis was screaming, but externally, he just turned on the radio.

***

When Niall questioned Louis on his whereabouts after work, Louis contemplated not even telling Niall about what had happened with Harry, but he’s his best friend. He couldn’t hide this from him. Not for long at least. Besides, Louis could barely contain the excitement that he had Harry’s number that he just _had_ to tell someone, and that someone should, and will be, his best friend.

“I got something to eat with Harry,” he told Niall as he sat down on the couch.

“What?!” Niall shouted, grabbing a bag of chips from the pantry and joining Louis on the couch. Louis nodded, biting his lip, waiting for Niall to get comfortable before he told him the best part.

“I also got his number,” Louis spilled and Niall made some weird, inhuman noise that Louis couldn’t describe if he tried. The best way for him to describe it is ‘a Niall noise’.

“Have you texted him?” Niall asked excitedly.

“The fuck? I was just with him literally ten minutes ago, why would I text him?”

“Tell him you miss him!”

“I’m not even going to text him, let alone say that,” Louis argued.

“But you know you want to!” Niall teased and he wasn’t wrong. Louis would talk to Harry during every waking moment he had if he could, but as Harry said; they exchanged numbers so that Harry could notify him if he needed a ride home from the cemetery. That’s all it was.

“Fuck off,” Louis said, taking a pillow from the couch and whacking Niall in the head with it.

***

An hour later, Louis was still sitting on the couch with Niall, now watching reruns of Family Guy, after Louis had went into detail about his whole evening with Harry. Louis was getting ready to call it a night because he felt exhausted when he felt his phone buzz next to him.

Louis looked at the screen to see it was Harry who had texted him, and for a second, Louis thought he was seeing things and that he was just too tired to see who had really texted him, but after rubbing his eyes, Harry’s name was still on his screen with the word “iMessage” underneath.

“Harry texted me,” Louis said excitedly more to himself and Niall just so happened to be there to hear it.

“What did he say?” Niall asked.

“I’m scared to open it,” Louis said, still staring at the screen with Harry’s name.

“Oh, stop being such a pussy-“ Niall said before reaching over to grab his phone right from his hands. Immediately, Louis shouted for Niall to give it back.

After promising he was going to just read the message, Louis got his phone back. “Watch it just say ‘hey’ and you freaked out over nothing,” Niall said, watching Louis as he unlocked his phone. Louis pressed the message app where the red 1 hovered above the icon. Here goes nothing.

_Harry: just wanted to make sure I had the right number! hi louis!_

“He was just making sure he had the right number,” Louis said as he sighed in relief.

“Wow, talk about being overdramatic. You should’ve stuck with drama in college instead of psychology.”

“You can eat a dick,” Louis responded, eyes glancing at Niall briefly and then back to the message from Harry.

He managed to type a response.

_Louis: what, you think I’d give you a fake number?_

Louis locked his phone and let out another deep sigh. “I think I’m gonna go to bed,” Louis announced.

“What? No you’re not. This was just getting juicy!” Niall rubbed his hands together mischievously.

“Thank you for your input, Niall, but I’m really tired and I’m going to bed.”

“Fill me in tomorrow?” Niall asked, face full of hope.

“Sure.”

Louis was making his way to his bedroom when his phone vibrated again in his hand.

_Harry: just wanted to make sure. you never know with people these days…_

Louis got under his covers and stared at the message for a few seconds before replying.

_Louis: well I gave you the right number, or else I wouldn’t have your number when you texted me because I gave you a fake number and then a fake me would be replying right now_

It wasn’t until Louis hit send that he realized how much that didn’t make sense and his exhaustion was getting to him. Harry did not have to see this side of him.

Louis decided to add another message to the first one.

_Louis: not even sure if that made sense, but you get my point_

Louis locked his phone, rested it on his chest and closed his eyes. The only sound in the room was Louis’ calm breathing, despite the fact that his heart was racing because, come on, he was texting Harry. A week ago, Louis wouldn’t guess this at all and here he is, waiting on a response from the boy he had always admired from afar since the day he started working at East Hillside. This had to be some sort of cheesy movie that Louis was stuck in, but didn’t want to get out of.

Louis was almost drifting off to sleep when he was jerked awake by his phone vibrating on his chest. A reply from Harry.

_Harry: made sense to me, if that helps_

Louis rolled his eyes because of course it helped. Anything Harry could’ve said to him would’ve warmed his heart all the same. Harry didn’t need to know that though.

Play it cool, Louis, play it cool. 

_Louis: my tired mind is a weird one, might wanna get some sleep before I start typing all my wrods worng liek tihs_

Louis felt clever for that one and smiled in satisfaction as he locked his phone. It vibrated again seconds later.

_Harry: very funny, but get some sleep. see you tomorrow?_

Louis smiled to himself.

_Louis: same time and place, see you there, curly_

Louis locked his phone once more and plugged it into his charger right beside his bed. He adjusted himself in bed and got more comfortable. As Louis drifted off to sleep, his thoughts always came back to Harry; the way he spoke to Louis with so much respect, the way his mouth curved when he smiled, the way his hair would fall in his face when he looked down nervously at his feet, the way he opened up in front of Louis when he was speaking to his mom at the cemetery, just all about Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry. No matter what Louis would try to think about, his mind said ‘nope, but how about that lovely Harry though?’ and it was starting to frustrate him, but at the same time, it helped him fall asleep to pleasing thoughts of pretty green eyes and light laughter.

 


End file.
